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Zebra herds are frequently seen mingling with Ostrich herds and hence,
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17 Feb 2019, 11:55

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25% (medium)

Question Stats:

76%(01:46) correct 24%(02:14) wrong based on 154 sessions

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Zebra herds are frequently seen mingling with Ostrich herds and hence, Ostrich farms attract quite a few zebras throughout the year in Farmville. However, zebras tend to carry the XPQ parasite that is known to affect ostriches. Although the parasite cannot affect the adult ostriches, it can cause blindness in baby ostriches, curbing their overall growth and eventually causing loss to the farmer. The Farmville farmers’ association has decided to keep the baby ostriches secluded from the zebras. They predict that the next generation of adult ostriches will be free of the XPQ parasite infection.

The association’s prediction is based on which of the following assumptions?

A) The current adult ostriches will not act as carriers for the parasite to infect baby ostriches before they are vaccinated.

B) The zebras will not stop coming to Ostrich farms if baby ostriches are not present.

Re: Zebra herds are frequently seen mingling with Ostrich herds and hence,
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26 Feb 2019, 03:59

pineapple123456 wrote:

Zebra herds are frequently seen mingling with Ostrich herds and hence, Ostrich farms attract quite a few zebras throughout the year in Farmville. However, zebras tend to carry the XPQ parasite that is known to affect ostriches. Although the parasite cannot affect the adult ostriches, it can cause blindness in baby ostriches, curbing their overall growth and eventually causing loss to the farmer. The Farmville farmers’ association has decided to keep the baby ostriches secluded from the zebras. They predict that the next generation of adult ostriches will be free of the XPQ parasite infection.

The association’s prediction is based on which of the following assumptions?

A) The current adult ostriches will not act as carriers for the parasite to infect baby ostriches before they are vaccinated.

B) The zebras will not stop coming to Ostrich farms if baby ostriches are not present.

Zebra herds are frequently seen mingling with Ostrich herds and hence,
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26 Feb 2019, 05:53

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Quote:

Zebra herds are frequently seen mingling with Ostrich herds and hence, Ostrich farms attract quite a few zebras throughout the year in Farmville. However, zebras tend to carry the XPQ parasite that is known to affect ostriches. Although the parasite cannot affect the adult ostriches, it can cause blindness in baby ostriches, curbing their overall growth and eventually causing loss to the farmer. The Farmville farmers’ association has decided to keep the baby ostriches secluded from the zebras. They predict that the next generation of adult ostriches will be free of the XPQ parasite infection.

The association’s prediction is based on which of the following assumptions?

A) The current adult ostriches will not act as carriers for the parasite to infect baby ostriches before they are vaccinated.

B) The zebras will not stop coming to Ostrich farms if baby ostriches are not present.

E) Few, if any, zebras do not come close enough to the ostriches to be able to infect.

The correct answer is A. The key with any CR assumption question is to focus on exactly what the conclusion is claiming, since the GMAT loves to word conclusions ambiguously to catch you out. In this case, the conclusion is that keeping baby ostriches away from zebras = no more parasites. What is already established is that interaction between zebras and baby ostriches causes the virus. However, this conclusion cannot be completely sound unless one also assumes that there are no other causes for the parasites.Hence, a right answer would be one that eliminates any other possible causes.

Option A - This option DOES eliminate an alternative possible cause for the parasites. If this is true, it certainly helps the conclusion. In addition, if this option were false, it would completely invalidate the argument, making it a necessary assumption that the argument is based. CORRECT

Option B - The zebras showing up or not to farms with adult ostriches is irrelevant, since they cannot infect the adults. OUT

Option C - Even if this is the case, the babies are being separated. This therefore has no impact on the argument. OUT

Option D - This tells us nothing that impacts the argument, we are looking at whether the ostriches will get the parasite to begin with, not at whether there is a cure. OUT

Option E - Whether the zebras come close enough or not is irrelevant. If the baby ostriches are separated, this point has already been dealt with. OUT